The Ministry of Civil Affairs and the State Forestry Administration are urging people to abandon what it calls "outdated practices" on Qingming Day or Tomb-Sweeping Day which are causing thousands of forest fires around the country every year.

According to the circular, the burning of funerary paper money caused 2,303 forest fires in 2006, about a third of all accidental fires and the number is on the rise.

The circular has also ordered fire fighters to be on guard "round-the-clock" during Tomb-Sweeping day which falls on April 5 this years.

Traditionally, tens of millions of Chinese visit the tombs of their forbearers around Qingming Day.

The government has advised people to pay their respects to the departed via the Internet as more on-line funerary sites have opened.

In 2005, 8.49 million people died in the country, according to official figures.

(Xinhua News Agency March 27, 2007)